


Too hot to handle

by AquaSapphireMarine



Category: Alien vs Predator (2004), Aliens vs Predators Series - Various Authors, Predators (2010)
Genre: F/M, I'm so sorry, It's not good and it's not worth anyone's time but i tried, Multi, Other, i had to do this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 15:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20838050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AquaSapphireMarine/pseuds/AquaSapphireMarine
Summary: Attika isn't the a prime example of what female of her species should be.She too short, too shy and can't even talk to the guy she likes despite his approachable nature.Someone help her.This is a fan work based on a fan work by SailawayPlease go read her works. I love her and her characters and you will too.Check her out.https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailaway/works





	Too hot to handle

**Author's Note:**

> This is a split canon! It DOES NOT take place in the main time line.  
Luar is still bae

I can not describe this utter bliss, putting it into words is nearly impossible. He’s so warm and the musk of his scent could drive a girl beyond wild. The touch of his claws is phantom like, gliding over my skin as his manibles brush the tender side of my throat. His soft chitters of praise driving me forward closer and closer to the edge, as his hip press hard against my thighs with each thrust. His hips are lean but muscular and it feels amazing to wrap my legs around them. I want him to fill me, to give me his seed and make me his. The thought alone is almost enough to send me over the edge as he cries my name drawing ever closer to his own release. He chants it like a mantra, over and over. “Attika, Attika, ATTIKA!” 

T’kicta is gone, his warm body is replaced by the heat of my room and the warmth of the furs below me. The rocking of his hips is now just the invasive nagging of my roommate.  
“Come on you lazy rock, you’ll be late if you don’t get up now and get ready for your shift.”  
I growl at my sister. Not my real sister of course, Atal is just one of four other females I shared this chamber with. I don’t want to get out of bed, I don’t want my dream to be over. Although I must get ready, one does not shirk their duties because of enticing fantasies and dreamy green eyes and warm arms that look like they’d hold you just right. No indeed one cannot simply ditch work for an absolutely impossible daydream. 

Atal is done dressing, and she’s smiling at me, I can feel her gaze on my back and it’s crushing me.  
“Yes Atal, can I help you?” She laughs softly to herself, her laugh is infectious and lovely. When I finish dressing I face her and almost regret doing so. She’s taller than me, most are, but she lords it over me occasionally. She’s shorter than average too after all.“I know you were dreaming about him again, don’t deny it.” 

She’s right of course, and there’s no reason to deny it. I’ve had it bad for T’kicta since we were little more than pups. We had all the same classes and we sparred together when we were little. Doubtless he’s forgotten about me by now, I’ve barely had reason to speak to him in the many years since, and on the rare occasion I do I must seem so strange and uncoothe. So it makes no sense for me to feel any sort of way about him. Atal tells me he’s good in bed and that he is very gifted in a way many males aren’t. I’d be a bald faced liar to say I wasn’t envious that she had such knowledge and I didn’t, but holding grudges isn’t what I do. 

“So? What of it?” Her arms are folded now, a wry look in her eyes. “I’m just saying if you think about him so much that he even persists in your dreams, then you should take him to bed. Get it out of your system and move on. Really sister, there are so many fine males on board that would happily take you up on an offer of your company. Some would even actively seek it on their own.” Atal isn’t wrong, the male population on the ship is vast, and there are some males on board who would probably be willing to lay with me. Only problem is that there is only one male I have any interest in having in my bed. Not that I don’t find other males to be visually attractive, or enjoy the presence of them and the odd kind of satisfaction their scents bring. Not at all, males are all around a wonderful thing, I’m happy to be near them, I’m just not interested in what they have to offer.  
Atal shrugs her shoulders and leaves. I finish getting ready, already uncomfortable, the leather of my top feels too tight. Dread. So much dread. I had hoped my heat would be put off for at least another few cycles. No such luck, I suppose. The real heat is still to come, but the increased production of hormones in my body is going to make my life miserable nonetheless. After fidgeting with my top and getting it as comfortable as I can, I decide to leave it be. I need to go, my work is important and I must not be late.

The elevator is close to my shared chambers, only a few doors away. I just have to get to the arboretum and I’ll be fine. I’ll get my list of duties for the day and I’ll do them, then I can go back to my room, or get something to eat on this deck, there are rarely any males on this deck who stay for longer than it takes for females to be satisfied. I’ll just get something small and eat it quick and go back to sleep.  
I just have to make it to the end of the day, then the next, and the next and… the door to my right opens without warning and a tall figure bumbles out of the room nearly flattening me. A male, he’s tall, lean and a dark bronze with little patches of black on his back. He had been in Ephra’s room. A rude awakening and abrupt ejection it is then. He’s barely dressed and smells strongly of her, she must be in heat as well. The flustered male barely seemed to notice me as he makes for the Elevator. I get there at roughly the same time despite his longer legs, his loincloth kept slipping and he had to adjust it several times. I try not to laugh at his misfortune as an uncomfortable warmth swirled in my belly. We both stepped into the elevator and the doors close.

It’s crowded this morning, I should have left sooner with Atal. I’m the only female on this morning. The combination of their musks is enough to make me dizzy, I have to press against the wall to keep from sliding to the floor. I look over at the others in the lift with me and make eye contact with the male who’d been in Ephra’s chambers. I can see the brand of a blooded warrior on his crest, he isn’t from this clan, at least not originally. I avert my gaze and try to mind my own business, the doors open and several bodies pile out. The relief I feel is immediate. Two stops till my floor. The moments crawl by with an eternity between each. The lift stops, more get out. I’m alone with the male from the sororal deck. My gaze flicks back up to him, his eyes lock with mine, they’re bright orange and they’re friendly and warm. He chirps a soft “Good morning.” I reply politely in kind. His tusks stand out sharply against the bronze coloring of his face and crest. “I apologize for almost running into you earlier.” The statement surprised me, I hadn’t expected it considering he had given no indication of even noticing me. “I wasn’t aware you could even see me at all. I thought perhaps Ephra may have blinded you with terror.”  
She was especially aggressive after sex, often sending males out of her quarters with bites and scratches that had nothing to do with the activities that brought them there to begin with.  
“Nonsense. You’re just so small I only noticed you after the fact.” He folded his arms and turned his chin up as if to display offense but his voice was light and teasing. Not that his words didn’t leave a small stinging in my chest. I tried to look unphased as the elevator stops again, he files off and gives me a wink before the doors close. Alone at last I feel truly relaxed. The doors open sooner than I thought they would, but as I step out into the heat and humidity I don’t mind.  
\----

This tree is finished. I couldn’t be happier with that fact. Pollinating the flowers of the fruit bearing trees is hard work. One must have a steady, gentle hand and excellent attention to detail to do it. Pollinating each flower until the tuft of fluff on each stick is devoid of any pollen. Then you must turn the stick over to collect pollen from the flowers of that tree to cross pollinate the other trees. Each tree can take over an hour to do, so most of my fellow workers don’t enjoy it. I often get this job, I never complain about it, I’m helping to put food in the mouths of my fellow yautja. How could anyone complain about doing that?

“Attika, did you take a break at all today?” I was just finishing the process of recoating the ends of this stick in a thick golden layer of pollen, when my supervisor stops by. Her name is Iosa, she’s thickly muscled, lightly colored and a stern, intelligent and capable female to be sure. She cares for all her workers as if they were her own pups, ensuring each is taken care of and is able to do their best work. “I lost track of time, I apologize.” She frequently becomes cross with me when I don’t stop to eat or rest during my shifts. I never really notice though. My work has the tendency to just consume me, I get more done than anyone else though. “You need to stop doing that, to be strong and efficient you must keep up your energy.” Her look of reproach could cripple someone, but I’ve seen it so many times it doesn’t really phase me anymore. “I’ll keep that in mind Iosa.” She just shakes her head at me. “I know you do excellent work taking care of the plants here, but you must also care for yourself.” I can only nod my head as I step down from my ladder to stand before her. It’s time for my shift to end, so I say my goodbyes to Iosa and leave my gear in my designated locker.

I want to go back to my room, I should go back to my room. My heart is set on other options though. My finger presses the button for the level below this one. It’s another hour before T’kicta’s shift ends. I want to watch him work for a little while, and enjoy the heat of the welding shop. The catwalks that run above the rest of the room are the perfect place to do both. Unfortunately I failed to take the aspect of my heat into account when I decided to partake on this little trip. Several males that are taking lunch lean their heads back to get a better taste of the air as I move above them. Likely this trip will have to be shorter than I would like it to be so I can avoid any unnecessary encounters. Finding a spot close to the station T’kicta works in I get comfortable. I let myself have a guilty little taste of the air. I can smell him, mixed with the scent of other males, a few females, inert gases and hot metal.  
Time seems to just flow like water as I watch him move, the subtle shift of muscles under his skin while he moves the torch over two sheets of metal alloy. When he finishes he cuts the connection of the electrode and scraps the slag from the top of his puddles, their perfect. Really his eye for detail is astounding when it comes to welding, I wish he’d pay that kind of careful attention to me.

The vibrations of someone on the catwalk takes me from my, well, no better word for it than creeping I suppose. They stop next to me and I don’t have to look up from my male watching session to tell who it is. He sits next to me, legs hanging over the edge of the metal catwalk like mine. The three broad orange stripes on his leg mirror mine. As does the shade of perfect black they’re set on. He’s a near perfect copy of me. Or more accurately I’m a near perfect copy of him. The large male says nothing, only sits next to me; he’s probably going to tell me another interesting human fact. I don’t mind though. I enjoy learning the many things my sire has to teach me.  
“Did you know that human cornea get oxygen from the air instead of a blood supply like the rest of the body?” His voice is so very deep it causes the metal beneath us to vibrate slightly. I shake my head. “I did not know that father. That is very interesting.” My sire is very unusual. I’m very much like him in that aspect, I, too, am unusual. I do not act like I should and I know this; neither does he. It wasn’t until I began my schooling that I learned how uncommon it was for a sire to visit his offspring on a daily basis and spend hours with them. I know now, but when I brought it up to the other students they became distressed that they didn’t get to spend as much time with their male parental units as I had.  
The teacher asked me to stop. It was something I did with much reluctance but was never able to kick the feeling of needing to tell my friends the stories my father told me. They were such good stories.  
“Humans are bioluminescent. They can’t see it though, their eyes can’t perceive the light their own body gives off.” This fact really does interest me. It’s so out of the blue and fascinating. My father could go on all day with odd bits of knowledge about that race. He was “over the moon” when he found out one would be living on board the ship for a while. 

He shifts beside me and nudges my side with his elbow. “You should go talk to him.” At this I look up at him. My mandibles open and close again without saying anything. I have no idea how to respond. Looking away is the best option so it's what I decide to do. “You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t at least speak to him.”  
He’s right, as per usual, but if I knew how to just go up to him and talk to him I would have. T’kicta takes his shield off and sets it aside, his shift is ending. When I stand my father stops me, taking my hand in his and looking up at me. There’s a deep warmth to the steely ice of his eyes, he holds me with them for just a moment before he speaks again.  
“Attika. I want for you to succeed in all aspects in your life, you know that. I want your hunts to be victorious, your works to be fruitful and fulfilling, I want you to do all that you can with the life you have been gifted. But most of all I want you to be happy everyday of your life. He may not be the most highly ranked amongst those on the ship, but if he can make you happy, then you should give it your all to attain that happiness.” He lets go of my hand and stands, he’s heads taller than me, and I’m forced to crane my neck to meet his gaze. “You can do this, I know that you can.”  
“He wouldn't like me, I’m not like the others, I couldn’t just have him and be done with it. Besides, he’d just think me strange and avoid me.”  
“How do you know?”  
“Well… Because I’m me.”  
He smiles “It would seem you have a lot in common with the humans Attika.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” My voice comes out wavy and unsure.  
His smile brightens. “You can’t see your own light, but that doesn’t mean others can’t see how much you shine.” It’s the last thing he says as he turns away and returns to the floor below to resume his work.

The walk down from the catwalk is so brief I hardly notice. My thoughts are swimming, what should I do? I’m certain Atal could give me some hints as to what to do. I guess I’ll ask her. She knows a great many things about males and how to interact with them. If I had even a tenth of her knowledge about this subject I might not feel so stuck.  
I send her a quick message asking if she’s free to just talk and head back to our shared chamber. The reply is almost instant, she wants me to meet her in the kehrite for training. It might be a good way to blow off steam. I read through the rest of the message on my way to the elevator.  
“Hey, I’m always free to speak with my sisters. You’ll have to meet up with me i’m training right now. Meet me in the kehrite on the male’s deck by the main dining hall.”  
That idea makes me very nervous. There are bound to be many males taking their mid-shift breaks now, eating and moving about the deck. Of course it’s what they ought to be doing and they shouldn’t have to change that for me. But gods I swear Atal is doing this on purpose just because I’m in heat and because of her weird need to get me laid. I can’t leave her and not show up now though. I asked to speak with her and now I must go and see her, even if I want to go back and curl up in my bed instead.  
Perhaps I can persuade her by throwing her around the ring a bit. I like this idea and I know my smile must look somewhat unhinged as I stalk down the hall towards the elevators. Now I can’t wait to meet my dearest sister on the training mat.

\-------

The kehrite is full.  
I’m gonna die, there’s too many other yautja in here, I can barely find Atal and when I do she’s crammed herself into a corner, her arms are folded over her chest and she’s speaking amiably with a tall, blandly colored male who seems very enthusiastic to have her attention. His hand gestures were bold, as he recounted some expedition to her, at one point I feared he may hit her mid speech in their close proximity.  
I somehow squeeze my way through the crowd to get to her after what felt like forever. “Why is it so busy today?”  
She tosses an arm over my shoulder and drags me away from the corner, closer to the mat where two males have just about killed each other. The mat is slick with their blood and horrific meaty gauges marr their bodies. They look exhausted, either could give out at any moment.  
“What’s wrong with them?”  
Atal looks at me as if I'd asked her what the sky was. She huffs and say, “The promise of pups of course.”  
I stared back up at the ring, their battered forms thrashing each other. All of this over a female who was willing to mate, willing to spread her legs while sharing their company. It was mind boggling to think about. Would males do this for me if I offered myself to them? Fight till they were worn, torn, ragged and bloody? I should think not, yet there’s a small deep part of me gleefully cries yes.  
“See the brown grey female over on the other side?” My eyes follow the motion of her outstretched finger. ”The one who wins gets first try at breeding her for her next ten heats.”  
I can't find any words to say to that. The beating takes back my attention as my gaze returns to the mat. They're close in size, evenly matched and both heavily muscled. They must be one and a half times my own weight and each impact sends shock waves through the floor. The more aggressive seemingly of the two, though it's hard to distinguish, is now on his back howling his rage. The standing suitor dives in to grab at the down male’s leg. It's a poor choice really. I can see the rage in his eyes as the downed male curls in towards his knees within reach of his opponent. I watch his tawny colored fist connect with the jaw of his amber opponent and the violence of the thrust is enough to drive the other male’s head back. He stagers and gives the down opponent room to get back to his feet. With one final charge he rams the amber male in the stomach with his shoulder and forces him over the blood slicked floor, out of the ring and to the ground in defeat.  
It happens so near to me I have to quickly step back to evade the falling form. Blood splatters the floor around him, thick globs of nearly coagulated blood burst, reopening gashes.  
He's hurt and desperately needs medical attention. He may be too exhausted to get to the healers. He could die. If I stand here that may very well happen.  
Atal knows what I'm thinking, her grip on my arm is tight, but not enough to hurt.

Closer now I can see him in greater detail. The black patches along his back are so familiar, and the amber of his skin, though drenched in viscous green blood, is more bronze than amber. He looks just like the male from the elevator but he’s too small. I don’t notice the crowd around us parting to let a larger body pass through them. The bronze and black male from earlier crouches next to the small damaged body of the defeated combatant, one large, muscular arm wrapping around him and lifting him from the floor with a grunt. 

When he lifts his head we make eye contact and he straightens much faster than he really should have for a person carrying an injured comrade. “Hello again.” He declares cheerily, his wide orange eyes giving myself and the slightly taller female standing behind me a once over. The male in his arms groans in discomfort and nails him half heartedly in the ribs. “Hi,” I find myself distracted by the fact that he’s holding a wounded Yautja under his arm so casually, he could be more seriously injured than he appears to be. Which at this point might as well be a death sentence. It’s very worrying to say the least. 

“Shouldn’t he be seen by a healer? Do you need any help getting him there?” I watch coppery mandibles pull back ever so slightly in surprise at my concern, but the smile that replaces it is infectious and mischievous. “Hah, nah, the only severely wounded thing about him is his wounded pride.” He hugs, what I assume to be his brother, tighter, crushing his ribs and making him wheeze.  
“Still, his wounds could get infected.” I interject, he nods and I hear him give a small hum in agreement. He begins to click something but the smaller male pushes away and staggers a bit as he tries to stand. “I’ll get there just fine on my own. I have no need for either of you.” The bigger male grunts but doesn’t move to stop him. “Really Aerri, a female is inquire after your well being and you intend to turn her down when she is giving you her time and attention? You must be an empty headed fool.” 

Aerri didn’t respond for several long moments. I knew he must still be very sore from not only the fight but from losing it along with his chances at mating. “I can’t see why she should care, I lost and am not fit to breed or have a mate.”  
It would seem his defeat had cut him deeper than just his pride or wounds would show. It must have truly hurt him, it was painful to hear him say such things as this and I would feel remiss to simply leave him feeling that way. I only caught the end of the battle but he fought well from what I saw and was very strong. I’m sure he would have won if he hadn’t gone for his opponent when he was down such as he had been.

“I’m very sure that isn’t the case and you mustn't let this single loss lead you to believe otherwise.”  
Aerri didn’t look at me but he seemed to shrink a little at my words, unsure of what to do or what to say as his brother stepped in. “You should listen to her. Her words are true.”  
“It doesn’t change the fact that I lost Orte. If I had won I would have finally been able to mate.”  
There's just no getting through to the young male, not even his brother could do it.  
What to do? If I came up with something fast he might leave here in a better mood.  
Usually when I was in a foul mood I did something to take my mind off it. When I turned to look at Atal she was giving me the look she always did when she thought I as acting strange. “Atal.” I began, trying to sound as even as I could so she wouldn’t get suspicious. “I just remembered that I came here to speak to you and I’ve been ignoring you until now. Please forgive my rudeness.” Atal gave me a confused glance but nodded. “Of course, what is it you wished to speak about?” I waved her off and gestured to the mat. “Let us sparr first, I haven’t gotten enough practice as of late.” I supposed she caught onto my intentions because she folded her arms and gave me a reproachful look.  
“Very well, but we should wait for the blood to be cleaned first.” I clicked a little laugh at her response. “What? Are you scared by a little blood?”  
Atal was never one to let a challenge like that go unanswered and the look in her eyes was so sharp I could feel it cutting at my very soul. Her tresses, clinked as she turned sharply towards the mat and stepped up onto the raised surface. She dismissed the youngblood who had just arrived to clean with an aggressive sweeping motion of her hand.  
Aerri was making to leave but I stopped him by stepping partially into his path.  
“Oh, Aerri, I hope you wouldn’t mind too much if I asked you to stay and watch me spar. You were quite fierce in your fight and I would be delighted if you’d stay until we were done.”

The young male seemed to mull it over in his mind for several moments before he gave a soft chirp of approval. I couldn’t stop the pleased look on my face. Orte gave me an appreciative look, no doubt he’d sussed out my plan and was something akin to grateful that his brother would not be leaving in such a foul mood. 

Atal was waiting for me on the mat. Her muscular form looked good from this angle, and several bystanders gave excited chirps that a new match was going to be starting so soon. I stepped up, the mat was sticky under my feet and the smell of blood was overpowering but I tried not to let it get to me. Atal tied her tresses back, and shook herself, mentally preparing.  
“Are you ready sister?” Atal inquired taking position, slightly hunched.  
“As ready as I can be sister.”

Atal didn’t give any warning before she lunged, grabbing for my mid-section and missing by only a claws length. I danced back feet carrying me lightly over the blood soaked mat. Atal followed, closing the distance between us with ease, she had the size but I had the speed, taking her in circles around the mat as I searched for an opening. I found it on our second go around, I charged in, faking a high blow to distract her while my foot swept her own out from under her which was resting in a still slick puddle of luminous blood. She fell to her knees and took the chance to quickly climb a top her back and put her in a choke hold. She did not take kindly to that. She staggered up, having trouble under my weight, her best option was to roll. The hard mat met my back and forced the breath from my lungs but I did my best to hold on. Atal forced her claws up between my forearm and her neck, prying as best she could from her position. Bowing her back she managed to slip my hold and scuttle away as she regained her breath. I rolled onto my knees, chiding myself for allowing her to slip my grip as easily as she did.  
Suddenly her weight is on me and I'm pressed flat to the mat. She nearly gets me into the same hold but just manage to push back and slip most the way out between her legs. Her right arm stops me, wrapping around my chest. She weighs more than me, but she's not going outshine me tonight. I'm determined to win, by any means necessary, even if I have to draw blood. I allow for a quick glance into the crowd of faces and see the two brothers engrossed by the match. I feel a sudden gladness that Aerri decided to stay, but my eyes wander as Atal attempts to reposition herself higher, the mossy green skin of a short tressed male catches my eyes and for the briefest of moments we lock eyes. They're so bright, so beautiful and so green.

Atal pushes forward, it grants me enough room to get a foot under me, and I slip through to the right leaving my torso under her but forcing her arm to break its hold. With that I take her wrist and pin it to the mat. It's my turn to push now, and with my chin to my chest I do, the gold tipped thorns of my crest finding a comfortable place in the soft underside of her jaw. She cries out sharply in pain and I crawl to my hands and knees as best I can while still clutching her wrist. The closest edge of the mat is right in front of us. I move for it, half carrying half pushing my roommate to the edge where I plan to dump her over the edge. I can see T'kicta in the crowd but only just at this angle. Maybe I can impress him by winning. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to be confident enough to talk to him. Maybe… Maybe he'll remember me.

I get caught up in my thoughts and almost go over the mat. I have to stop and crawl back a few steps before I raise my hips and legs to roll Atal off and onto the floor below. She howls as she goes down and I know I shouldn't feel bad but I still do.  
I peer over and watch her find her legs while rubbing her neck. The wounds aren't deep, but they must sting. The din in the kehrite is filled with cheers and commentary on the match. All of it is background noise as I hop down to speak with her.

"That was a clever trick and a dirty move and if you ever do it to me again," Atal begins to say but is interrupted by the approach of brothers. "You both did well." Orte grinned and elbowed his brother. "Yes, I'm glad I stayed to watch."  
"As am I. Normally I don't win." My voice is soft and I feel tired. Orte laughs lightly at the joke, Aerri almost smiles. I will count this as another win.

After parting pleasantries are said I excuse myself to find Atal speaking to another yautja, I'm not sure who but I'm hoping to ask for her advice before I find T'kicta. Maybe if I'm lucky I can ask him to get a drink with me sometime.

"Hey Atal I-" the words die in my throat when she turns and I see the object of my fantasies standing there. It had been T'kicta that she was speaking with, of course, the one male in the whole universe who makes me trip over my own existence when I think about him. A near wicked expression crosses her face and she takes me by my arm drags me close to her.  
"I'm certain you two need no introductions but T'kicta this is my roommate and close friend, Attika."  
My whole body is stiff and I feel like I need to run away. But at the same time I don't know the next time the two of us will be this close to each other. He gives me a thorough once over and nods in recognition.  
“Attika.” The way he says it is so casually warm, the jolt of pure ecstasy that wracks my body is indescribable. The ship suddenly felt so small and the air felt very inadequate.

One of his wonderfully clawed hands came up as if to rest on my shoulder but he stalled a moment before my own instinctively reached out to grasp his. The contact made my knees feel weak, the gentle pressure when he squeezed before letting his hand drop back to his side was simply divine. With reluctance I mirror his movement, letting my hand fall away from his feverish skin.  
“You’ve become very formidable on the mat since I last saw you.”  
It has been some number of years and his words ring with some truth. I was not very good at fighting when I was younger, I'm still not the greatest. In truth I don't train as often as I should but still I have improved.  
"Thank you." Is all I can think to say as I look him in his eyes, they shine so beautifully even in the inadequate lights of the kehrite. 

I feel the presence of Atal at my back, it gives me some support, I'm glad she's here with me. Perhaps I won't be such a complete mess with her by my side. Her ability to keep me grounded has always surprised me, I admire her for it. I could probably manage this with Atal backing me up.

"Well I will see you two later, I just remembered I have to go see a young blood about some credits I won during the betting on that last fight. Good evening."

It feels like the floor was just pulled out from under my feet. Panic begins to settle deep in my gut as she walks away.

T'kicta's stance changes slightly, it's more casual and relaxed, but still he holds that same air of self assuredness that I came to love.  
I just want to be able to talk to him like a normal female, why is this so hard?  
"So how was work today?" My voice very nearly cracks, but it's a good start. I think.  
He seems pleased by my inquiry and begins a tale about his days labors and the pieces he'd put together.  
It was only a minute or so before he concluded his recap, I listened intently, even knowing how his final hour went I still wanted to know what the rest of his day was like.  
I want to know how his day was everyday.

"So how have you been doing recently?" It's a simple question, but it feels so heavy for reasons I can't understand.  
"Well, I uh...I"  
A hand falls heavily on my shoulders and I flinch.  
"Oh you know, working too hard, forgetting to take her breaks, suffering from her heat cycle."  
Atal has returned and I feel slightly comforted but also a little cross at her spilling my business.  
"Oh?"He grins, he could smell it on me, the fact that his sense of smell is so good completely slipped my mind, I feel foolish. The coy tone of his voice though is all the evidence needed to tell me as much.  
"Yes, truly a sad tale." Atal responds.

I can't take it, I have to put my foot down on this whole ordeal, but how? My mind is racing with thoughts  
I need to get out of here.  
I need to get some food and some sleep.  
More than anything I think I need to get a drink.  
Drinks….Perfect!  
"T'kicta." I fully have his attention now, I have to be quick before I lose my nerve.  
"Y-you..you drink things right?"  
Fuck. That's not how what I wanted. That's not what I wanted at all.  
He nods "I do."  
"Great, so do I. We should drink something together, tomorrow after work. That is, if you're interested." Atal squeezes my shoulder as if trying not to laugh but also support me.

To my surprise he chirps amiably. "It would be my pleasure to join you for drinks."

Atal cuts in again. "Yeah, so tomorrow then around this time? It's a date." Her arm fully encompasses my shoulders and before I can say anything else we're headed for the exit.

I groan into my furs trying to disappear.  
"You drink things right?" Atal mimics my question. Her laugh is devastating. "At least you managed to produce something productive from all that floundering."  
I just need to sleep.  
"It's not that easy to talk to him okay."  
"No it really is."  
"Uugh."  
"Well okay then if you insist. Get some sleep, you're gonna need it."


End file.
